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Political Ideas in Science Fiction
Explanations or commentary on political ideas are commonplace in works of science fiction. Dystopias offer obvious opportunities to explore political ideology but so too do stories about encounters with non-human intelligences: extraterrestrial, machine and trans-human. The political ideas explored in science fiction range from seemingly futuristic avant garde political theories to expressions of "timeless" contemporary prejudices. The escapist appeal of science fiction means that many writers and readers embrace libertarianism http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/sf-history.html or militarism, or both. The libertarian and militarist themes in the novels written by Robert A. Heinlein are barely distinguishable from lecturing. http://flag.blackened.net/liberty/moorcock.html More subtle approaches include explorations of the costs incurred in pursuing contradictory ideals. John Barnes explores the effects of globalization in his Million Open Doors series of novels. Examples by Concept * Assassination **Poul Anderson. 1968. "A Man to My Wounding," in his collection The Horn of Time. New York: Signet. No ISBN. pages 27-43. * Anarchism ** Ethical Anarchism ***Ursula K. LeGuin. The Dispossessed ** Violent Anarchism ***Gregory Benford's novel Foundation's Fear, pp. 18-19: see Renegatum * Complicity ** Mass Murder: James Morrow's 1985 novel This is the Way the World Ends * Crisis * Eco-Terrorism - Colin Macpherson. The Tide Turners. Yeppoon, Queensland, AU: Mopoke Publishing, 1999. * Fascism ** Norman Spinrad's novel The Iron Dream. ** Piranha 3D is anti-evolution, anti-sex, pro-police state propaganda! by Annalee Newitz io9 * Fiat Currency ** Robert Kroese's near future/semi-post apocalyptic/mystery-science fiction novel The Last Iota * Legal Personality ** Roger Macbride Allen. 1992. Modular Man. New York: Bantam. ISBN 0553295594 ** Robert Kroese's near future/semi-post apocalyptic/mystery-science fiction novel The Last Iota ** Gregory Benford's novel Foundation's Fear * Legisaltive Malapportionment ** Gregory Benford's novel Foundation's Fear, p. 57 * Libertarianism ** Margaret Atwood's. 2009. The Year of the Flood (the state re-emerges from a private security firm CorpSeCorps in a society where the state has collapsed) ** Robert A. Heinlein. 1966 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. New York: Tom Doherty. ISBN 0312863551. (also group marriage) * Militarism ** Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Game. (also child soldiers ) ** Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers. * Social Credit ** Robert A. Heinlein. For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs. Heinlein's first published novel was an exploration of para-capitalist economic theory and bears the obvious imprint of the New Deal. * Mind Control, Mind Reading and Paranoia ** Alfred Bester's 1953 novel The Demolished Man. ** Thomas M. Disch's 1968 novel Camp Concentration. ** Philip K. Dick. Almost everything that he wrote. ** Ira Levin's 1970 novel This Perfect Day. New York: Fawcett. ISBN 49902638175. (anticipates contemporary anxiety about the socal effects of widespread anti-depressant drug use) * Inception 2010 film; Interpretation of Inception "The Marxist Matrix: How to make sense of all those dreams-within-dreams in Inception." by Jonah Weiner. SLATE. July 21, 2010. * National Security State ** Rex Gordon's 1969 novel The Yellow Fraction. New York: Ace. ISBN 44194350060. pp. 26-28. * Native Reservation ** Fred Hoyle's 1967, 1968 novel "The Martians," in Element 79. New York: Signet. No ISBN. pp. 70-91. * Nepotism ** John Barnes's 2001 novel The Merchant of Souls. New York: Tor. ISBN 0812589696. pp. 119-120. * Noble Lie ** John Barnes's novel and universe A Million Open Doors: see the concept Culture Variant History * Pacifism ** Ursula K. LeGuin's novel The Dispossessed. * Plutocracy ** Max Barry's 2003 novel Jennifer Government. New York: Vintage. ISBN 1400030927. pp. 238-239. (also globalization ) ** Frederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth. 1952, 1953. The Space Merchants New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 345026004. * Politician Admits UFOS are Real ** John McCain and the Arizona Lights * Proportional Representation ** David Brin. 1999. Foundation's Triumph. New York: Harper Torch. ISBN 0061056391. p. 65. ** Scott Westerfeld. 2003. The Killing of Worlds. New York: Tor. ISBN 0765308500. p. 298. * Racism ** Arthur C. Clarke. 1953. Childhood's End. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 90-91. ** Norman Spinrad. Bug Jack Barron. See Foundation for Human Immortality * Revolution ** Norman Spinrad. The Men in the Jungle. (also cannibalism ) * Secrecy ** Although encounters between humanity and non-human intelligences serve as the primary theme in the series of novels by Arthur C. Clarke that began with 2001: A Space Odyssey, they are also a commentary on the irrationality and deadly consequences produced by Cold War military secrecy. * Surveillance ** Sleep Dealer 2008 film * Theocracy ** In Revolt in 2100, Robert A. Heinlein describes a future conservative Christian theocracy ruling what had been the United States of America. * Tacit Bargaining ** Gregory Benford and Larry Niven's novel Bowl of Heaven, p. 293 * Totalitarianisim ** George Orwell 1948. Nineteen Eighty-Four ** John Barnes explores the nature of totalitarianism in his Meme Wars novels: Candle and The Sky So Big and Black, which involve the threat of a hegemonic software program One True that takes control of both individual human minds and entire human societies. ** Ignacio de Loyola Brandao's And Still the Earth. * Treason ** Rex Gordon. 1969. The Yellow Fraction. New York: Ace. ISBN 44194350060. pp. 28-30. =References= * Thomas M. Disch. 1998. The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World. New York: Touchstone Books. ISBN 0684824051. * H. Bruce Franklin 1980. Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction. New York : Oxford University Press, 1980. Links * Coyotek * Society for Humanity * Fictional laws * Fictional Labor Unions in Science Fiction * Fictional Revolutionary Groups * Fictional interest groups * serbed * Knowles' Law